Alex Murdaugh failed a polygraph check, breaching plea settlement, feds say

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh failed a polygraph check administered as a part of the plea settlement for the disgraced former lawyer’s raft of economic crimes, violating the deal, which required his truthfulness, federal prosecutors mentioned in a courtroom submitting Tuesday.

In consequence, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of South Carolina is asking a courtroom to launch the federal authorities from the phrases of that settlement, liberating prosecutors from their obligation to suggest Murdaugh serve a federal jail sentence concurrent with one imposed in state courtroom for comparable crimes.

Murdaugh “denies the allegation” that he breached the plea settlement, his attorneys mentioned in their very own submitting Thursday opposing a request by prosecutors that the courtroom seal the polygraph examination report.

“To permit the federal government to publicly accuse Murdaugh of breaching his plea settlement whereas additionally permitting the federal government to cover all purported proof, supporting that accusation from the general public would violate the general public’s proper to the reality,” their response says.

Murdaugh attorneys, who claimed the polygraph examiner engaged in “odd conduct” earlier than administering an examination, requested the decide to disclaim or delay ruling to carry Murdaugh in breach of his plea settlement till the polygraph charts are offered to him, in response to a sentencing memorandum filed Thursday afternoon.

U.S. District Courtroom Choose Richard M. Gergel gave federal prosecutors till the tip of enterprise on Friday to submit redacted variations of witness interview summaries and an skilled report associated to the polygraph examination.

CNN has requested remark from Murdaugh’s attorneys and the prosecutor’s workplace.

The now-disbarred lawyer is already serving 27 years for comparable crimes after pleading responsible in state courtroom to just about two dozen prices together with cash laundering, breach of belief, conspiracy, forgery and tax evasion. That is along with the 2 consecutive life sentences he obtained a 12 months in the past after he was convicted of the June 2021 murders of his spouse and 22-year-old son; killings state prosecutors argued have been carried out to supply a distraction as his monetary schemes unraveled.

‘Resulting from Murdaugh’s lack of truthfulness’

The revelation of the alleged failed polygraph check comes days earlier than Murdaugh’s federal sentencing listening to, scheduled for Monday. He pleaded responsible in September to 22 prices of conspiracy, fraud and cash laundering. Every carries a most sentence of as much as 20 or 30 years in jail, federal prosecutors mentioned beforehand.

Murdaugh was accused of finishing up a number of schemes geared toward defrauding his private harm shoppers and regulation agency of tens of millions of {dollars} in settlement funds he then used for his private profit, in response to an indictment.

As a part of his plea deal within the federal case, Murdaugh agreed to undergo polygraph examinations performed by an examiner of the federal government’s selection, the courtroom submitting Tuesday says, as officers work to prosecute any co-conspirators and to get well Murdaugh’s “ill-gotten features” for his victims. About $6 million stays unaccounted for, the submitting says.

In trade for his cooperation, and for being “totally truthful and forthright” with regulation enforcement, the federal government “agreed to suggest Murdaugh’s federal sentence be served concurrently with any state sentence imposed.” If the settlement was breached “resulting from Murdaugh’s lack of truthfulness,” the federal government could be free to hunt a most sentence, the submitting says, and Murdaugh couldn’t withdraw his responsible plea.

In October 2023, an FBI polygraph examiner performed a two-part polygraph check on Murdaugh, the submitting says. The outcomes indicated deception, inflicting Murdaugh to fail and, the federal government argues, voiding the plea settlement.

Attorneys declare polygraph examiner displayed ‘odd conduct’

The specifics of the examination, like what Murdaugh was requested and the way he responded, are usually not publicly identified.

The federal government’s submitting signifies the examination was performed “on points associated to hidden belongings and the involvement of one other lawyer in Murdaugh’s prison conduct.”

Within the sentencing memorandum, Murdaugh’s attorneys allege the federal government’s conduct main as much as the polygraph examination and the agent’s conduct throughout “raises vital considerations as as to if the federal government has acted in good religion.”

“It seems that the polygrapher designed the related query in such a means to make sure that Murdaugh would fail the examination,” the attorneys declare within the doc.

The examiner displayed “odd conduct throughout the pre-test interview,” together with “declaring his perception that Murdaugh is harmless of the murders of his spouse and son,” Murdaugh’s attorneys allege.

Attorneys additionally say the examiner was “‘secretly’ confiding” in Murdaugh that he had simply returned from performing a polygraph examination associated to the homicide of Natalee Holloway.

They additional allege the examiner and Murdaugh “argued” over the that means of the time period “hidden belongings,” which was utilized in his check query, whereas contending they consider a number of of the examiner’s questions “run afoul” of the World Polygraph Community requirements for designing polygraph questions.

Prosecutors had proposed a movement to seal the polygraph examination report and 4 FBI experiences about interviews with Murdaugh final 12 months.

All are associated to an ongoing grand jury investigation, the movement mentioned, and allegations of prison exercise by different individuals. Sealing the proof is critical to guard the integrity of that investigation, prosecutors argued, noting in a footnote Murdaugh’s attorneys are against sealing the polygraph report.

‘A polygraph machine doesn’t detect lies’

Murdaugh’s attorneys urged the courtroom to disclaim the movement to seal the proof in a submitting Thursday, arguing prosecutors had not defined why a “much less drastic” motion, like a redaction of the polygraph and FBI interviews, wouldn’t be ample, as required by a courtroom rule.

“However most significantly, the federal government accuses Murdaugh of breaching his plea settlement and Murdaugh denies the allegation,” their submitting says. “The general public has a proper to know the reality of the matter by way of judicial proceedings which can be open and clear, not closed and sealed.”

Murdaugh’s attorneys additionally referred to as into query a number of the language used within the authorities’s movement to launch them from plea settlement obligations, noting the “Division of Justice’s personal coverage guide precludes the federal prosecutors from claiming Murdaugh was mendacity or being misleading. Merely put, a polygraph machine doesn’t detect lies.”

In a Thursday evening submitting, federal prosecutors addressed claims by Murdaugh’s attorneys that the federal government miscalculated the full losses and the way his earlier prison historical past ought to play into sentencing consideration. The prosecutors referred to as each claims “opposite to regulation and logic.”

Murdaugh cried throughout the listening to final September as he advised the decide he was pleading responsible of his personal free will — not simply because he was responsible, but additionally so his surviving son might see his father take duty for his actions and assist his victims heal, in response to three attorneys who have been current.